Black Squirrel Books, best known for its white cat and eclectic selection, will be expanding to another location at the end of March 2014.
Owner Vaughn MacDonald said expansion became a possibility last summer, when the bookstore simply “ran out of space.”
“We had to rent one of the apartments in the building we’re in to store all the excess books we had,” MacDonald said.
The new space, located on Bank and Sunnyside, will be more “design-oriented” than the first location, according to MacDonald.
“The current store will stay the traditional messy bookstore, though,” he said.
Renovating the space is taking longer than planned, but MacDonald said it’s going well. One major difference between the new space and old one, he said, is that it will be evenly split between a bookstore and a café.
One of MacDonald’s goals for the new space is to cultivate a new audience.
“We’re definitely going to market ourselves a little bit more toward Carleton students,” he said. “We’re looking to provide a space that you’d want to hang out in as much as shop in.”
The bookstore’s popularity is what enabled them to procure a new space.
MacDonald attributed Black Squirrel’s popularity to the bookstore’s selection.
“We’re really careful about what we put out,” he said. “I think we’re probably pickier than any other bookstore.”
MacDonald said the bookstore relies on many consistent customers, who buy books and then return them later. However, 90 per cent of the bookstore’s merchandise comes from customers who “just walk in.” The store will also inspect and then transport large collections of books from customers looking to sell.
Although Black Squirrel’s Facebook page says they specialize in “academic non-fiction,” MacDonald said the bookstore “tries to have a basic knowledge of just about every discipline and subcategory you can think of.”
“It’s a little bit of everything,” he said. “I mean, there’s still a very strong demand for classic literature. If you put it in numbers, it’s still probably our biggest seller.”
The new location has not yet been officially announced on the store’s page, and an advertising strategy is still in the works.
“It’s top-secret for now,” MacDonald said.
However, he did reveal an element of the bookstore that, if it goes through, will make the new Black Squirrel Books and Tea stand out from the crowd.
“We’re attempting to get a liquor license,” MacDonald said. “We would actually be Ottawa’s first bookstore bar, and I think just the second in Canada.”
As far as attracting a new audience goes, especially from university students, MacDonald said he is confident this will do the trick.
“That will be our main marketing point,” he said. “But we’re still working out the details.”
Considering their extensive stock, comfortable atmosphere, and unique selection, MacDonald said he thinks the new location will be a success, and said he hopes the expanded cafe and possible liquor license will bring in a new wave of customers to join the ones Black Squirrel has come to rely on.
